


A Much Needed Rest

by AstridMyrna



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Caretaking, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I just want them to be happy, Prompt Fill, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Shower, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-30 12:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15751671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridMyrna/pseuds/AstridMyrna
Summary: Jyn and Cassian are stationed at the outpost in Crait, where they have the shift from hell and just want to go back to their quarters for some much needed rest.





	A Much Needed Rest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [literatiruinedme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/literatiruinedme/gifts).



> For the prompt fill: Can I request a fic where Jyn and Cassian work together somewhere and it was just the shift from hell and they go home and shower and just hold each other in bed and are whiney and tired but they're just being so loving and tender to one another?
> 
> Look this is something we ALL need lol.

As far as Jyn was concerned, Crait could suck a hutt’s left tit. 

She had been excited, at first, to be assigned to the same outpost with Cassian. They had been separated for months, him on covert Intelligence missions and her prowling through the galaxy with the Pathfinders. However, the outpost needed extra hands and Jyn and Cassian were just the right people to help. Working inside the outpost wasn’t too bad, especially since it was bristling with gorgeous blood-red rhodochrosite crystals.

Patrolling outside was absolute hell. 

Jyn smacked her lips, desiccated from the bone-dry heat and the salt. It didn’t matter that she wore her scarf over her mouth, didn’t matter how tight her tinted goggles that protected her eyes from the reflected early morning sunlight on the white surface were on her face, the karking salt found a way to get into her nose and mouth. Her hair and neck itched with the mineral because of the sharp gusts of wind that whipped around her and Cassian as they marched around the outpost for the umpteenth time. But they were almost finished with their patrol, and with it their ten hour shift--

The earth rocked beneath their feet, sending their feet skidding red soil against the white salt. Cassian caught her elbow out of instinct, and asked if she was okay when their comms crackled to life--

_\--partial collapse, no causalities but current patrol stay on duty until further notice._

“Karking hell,” Jyn moaned, stamping her foot and spraying red soil on both their boots. “We’re going to go until midday, isn’t it?”

“Probably longer,” Cassian sighed, then gently bumped her shoulder with his. “I have another canteen of water if you need it.”

She pressed his arm against her without slowing down. “And I’ve got a couple of ration bars.”

She couldn’t see his smile from the white scarf he wore around his face, but she  knew it was there. Perhaps this patrol in the saline desert wasn’t going to completely suck.

* * *

At the end of their eighteen hour shift, Jyn and Cassian were finally able to retreat to the inside of the outpost where they had to listen to the galaxy’s longest lecture about safety protocol in the crystal mines. Jyn sat next to Cassian, her knee pounding under a brand new cold compress because she slipped and fell on the slippery karking salt when they were finally called in. Whenever she felt the urge to lean her aching head on Cassian’s shoulder, she squeezed her compress.

Then came out one of the mining droids with some helpful tips on how to prevent future cave ins by knowing the signs of structural weak points--and this was it, this was how Jyn Erso was going to die. The Death Star’s superlaser had nothing on a droid with a dream to instruct each and every one of them that working in the mines was dangerous.

Cassian must have been exhausted because when the lecture was finally over and they were all dismissed, he silently curled an arm around her waist to help her up and didn’t let go even though she could walk decently enough without help. Fucking hell, she was tired too, so she hooked her arm over his shoulder as they stumbled towards his quarters. 

The moment the door clicked behind them, Cassian groaned, “That was fucking endless.”

Jyn coughed out a laugh, then spat out the salt in her mouth. She bent down to yank her boots off first, but Cassian leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. She unsnapped the red mud-stained leather straps of his boots and he lifted his left foot so she could tug off the first shoe. His face twitched with unspoken pain when he lifted his other foot, and she felt guilty for letting him pull her up from both her fall and after the lecture. If her back ached from the over-extended shift, she could only imagine the strain his implants were under.

“Thanks,” he murmured.

She didn’t answer as she lined up their boots along the wall. When she grasped the edge of the desk to pull herself up, she let out a shuddering moan that she prayed their neighbors didn’t hear.

“Everything  _hurts,_ ” she whined as she staggered towards the hamper to shuck off her jacket and scarf.

Cassian joined her, grunting as he tried to pull his shirt over his head. “How’s your knee?”

She helped him peel off the sweat-stained undershirt, then plopped her hands on his shoulders while he rolled up her breast band. 

“I think it’s bruised but it’ll be fine,” she said, getting a good whiff of herself when her head went through the band. “Stars, I stink.”

“Then let’s take a shower.”

The shower was right around the corner, but it may as well have been in the next star system. 

“I’ve used up all my steps today.”

“Please, just a few more for me?” he asked, then punctuated it with a brief kiss on her chapped lips.

“You taste like salt.”

“ _Everything_  tastes like salt. And I stink too. I think I stink worse than you, if you want to smell for yourself.”

She pressed her nose in the crook of his neck and sniffed. Her nose crinkled and her right eye squinted at him.

“Is this what a tauntaun smells like?”

He laughed at her, tugging her hip to his in by her belt loops. It did feel good to finally shed her pants and underwear and socks, but she still felt like she wore a sticky, heavy layer of salty sweat that only a hot shower could melt off. It was going to have to be a quick one, though, because the hard rock floor was already starting to sway beneath her feet. 

The shock of hot water woke her up for a moment, then she looked up and giggled at Cassian’s thick curtain of wet hair that fell over his eyes. She reached up and combed it back with her fingers.

“Ah, now I can see you,” he said, smiling until his dimple showed.

 “I’m not finished yet,” she said as she slicked the rest of his hair back. “That doesn’t look too bad, actually.”

“Oh really?” he chuckled.

He pulled her hair out of her bun and threaded it over her shoulders. She waited for him to say something smart back, but was thrown off by the softened look in his eye.

“Your hair is pretty when it’s down,” he said, his thumb trailing down her neck.

He still tasted like salt when he brushed his lips against hers. Her eyes closed, she wavered forward when he pulled away and caught herself on her bad leg. 

“You okay?” he asked when she whimpered from the sudden shot of pain.

“Yes, but we should be getting to bed soon.”

He hummed in agreement, then slowly reached for the shampoo so he could massage it in her hair. Her arms were too heavy to reach up and do the same for him, but she was able to scrub the grime off his back, her thumbs carving into his shoulder blades before working their way between each vertebrae. He nearly fell backwards halfway through the massage.

Eventually they left the shower, their skin boiled pink. Jyn grabbed the towels and Cassian grabbed the balm and moisturizer, because once they sat down there was no getting up again. It was hard, though, for Jyn not to just pass out on the bed once she plopped down on it. Mechanically she rubbed herself dry with the towel before slapping on the thick, scentless cream that restored the moisture that the salt and air sapped away despite the layers of clothing she wore. She barely winced as she rubbed the balm over her lips, the bottom lip still healing from when she refused to moisturize at first because she hated the waxy texture and taste of the salve. 

She took her time dabbing it on, though, her eyes watching Cassian rubbing the body cream over the compact muscle in his arms. He caught her gaze and grinned when she didn’t look away, her sight tangled with the soft, damp waves of hair over his eyes.

He didn’t complain when she tossed the towels on the floor, but he did make her put the moisturizers on the bedside table since she sat closest to it. Then came the slow, painful struggle to go under the two light linen blankets that suddenly weighed as much as two freighters stacked together. Even Cassian grunted and huffed as he fell one elbow and knee at a time on the stiff mattress.  He laid flat on his back while she snuggled up on his side, her arm across the softened skin of his chest, and she closed her eyes. 

“Jyn?” he whispered, but his voice rumbled in his chest. “I’m sorry, but can you get--”

“Right, sorry.”

She broke away from him to pull out the painkillers and a small canteen of water they kept in the drawer of his nightstand table. He washed down a pair of the little white pills and handed her the canteen back. She took a swig before returning it to the table, then slid back to his side. 

“Thanks,” he breathed.

“Wait, the lights.”

“Got it.”

He fumbled at the light switch behind the headboard and the small, windowless room plunged into pitch black darkness. She settled into his side again, closed her eyes, and waited for sleep as tingles ran up her legs and her knee started to throb. She flopped on her belly, then on her side, then on her belly again until she huffed in defeat.

“Oh fuck me,” she groaned.

His eyes still closed, a smile played on his lips as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“Knee?”

“That and I think I’m too tired to go to sleep.”

He waved a hand towards the nightstand table. “Take something for the knee and then come over here.”

She took only one pain killer and curled up next to him, her bad knee resting on his thigh. He pulled the sheet over her shoulder before enveloping her in his arms, holding her so tightly that she was breathless for a moment. He loosened her grip and she gasped, her vision clouded with golden stars. She tightened her grip around his ribs and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

He kissed the top of her damp hair. “Do I still smell like a tauntaun?”

She broke into a fit of giggles that ripped through her so hard that she snorted, which made him laugh so loud that it echoed in their room. Eventually their laughter faded. Cassian’s breath grew longer, slower, stretching into a light snore that fluttered in her hair. When the pain in her knee finally evaporated, Jyn nuzzled deeper into his neck and counted his breaths until she slipped into sleep.


End file.
